From school elections to federal races, Clinton has relied on fierce preparation

New York Times

October 10, 2015Updated: October 10, 2015 9:21pm

Photo: Cheryl Senter, New York Times

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FILE -- Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democratic presidential hopeful, speaks at the New Hampshire Democratic Party 2015 State Convention in Manchester N.H., Sept. 19, 2015. What Clinton lacks in other political areas, she has traditionally made up for with arduous preparation and unusual talent and focus in debates. (Cheryl Senter/The New York Times) less

FILE -- Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democratic presidential hopeful, speaks at the New Hampshire Democratic Party 2015 State Convention in Manchester N.H., Sept. 19, 2015. What Clinton lacks in other political ... more

Photo: Cheryl Senter, New York Times

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Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton greets the crowd after a town hall-style meeting at Manchester Community College in Manchester, N.H., Oct. 5, 2015. The growing chance that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) could win either Iowa or New Hampshire, or both, has raised the stakes for Clinton in the first Democratic debate. (Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist/The New York Times) less

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton greets the crowd after a town hall-style meeting at Manchester Community College in Manchester, N.H., Oct. 5, 2015. The growing chance that Sen. Bernie ... more

Photo: Ian Thomas Jansen-lonnquist, New York Times

From school elections to federal races, Clinton has relied on fierce preparation

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When Hillary Rodham’s high school government teacher in Park Ridge, Illinois, insisted she play the role of Lyndon B. Johnson in a mock debate of the 1964 presidential election, she protested.

Rodham, one of the school’s standout debaters, was a proud Barry Goldwater supporter and an active member of the Young Republicans. But the teacher, Jerry Baker, was intent on challenging her to argue the other side.

Always a dutiful student, she agreed, settling into the library to pore for hours over Johnson’s positions on civil rights, foreign policy and health care. She prepared with such ardor and delivered such a compelling case that she even convinced herself. By the time Rodham graduated from college, she was a Democrat.

“Whenever we would say, ‘Well, who could speak up for this or that for us?’ it was always, ‘Well, let’s get Hillary to do that,’” said Ernie Ricketts, known then as Ricky, a childhood friend of Hillary Clinton’s.

Clinton does not possess the retail political skills of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, nor can she easily rouse a crowd with a lyrical speech like President Barack Obama. But on the debate stage, she displays an unusual talent and focus, and appears at ease and comfortably herself.

The first Democratic primary debate Tuesday on CNN will provide Clinton with an opportunity to present her policies to voters — policies that have been largely overshadowed in the news media by developments over her use of private email at the State Department and by the rise of her insurgent opponent, Bernie Sanders.

But more important, the debate — perhaps more than any late-night appearances or social media gambit — will provide Clinton with the largest platform yet to make a connection with voters and show off her genuine passion for policy.

“It’s who she is at her core,” said Patti Solis Doyle, who was an aide to Clinton from 1991 to 2008 and managed her last presidential campaign. “She’s an avid studier. She does her homework. She’s a massive preparer.”

The characteristics that viewers will see in Clinton on Tuesday are in many ways the same ones Baker spotted in his ambitious high school student a half-century ago.

“I loved to hone my debating skills with my friends,” she wrote in her memoir “Living History.” “I would press poor Ricky Ricketts into daily debates about world peace, baseball scores, whatever topic came to mind.”

Since then, Clinton has used debate preparation sessions — her own and her husband’s — as almost cathartic experiences, aides say.

While debating a mock opponent, Clinton has been known to unleash tirades, equal parts venting and joking, only to dial it back to a more disciplined response onstage.

“The key is to let her take out all her frustration before she takes that debate stage,” Solis Doyle said.

Over the years, Clinton has also demonstrated a deftness that has thrown off her male political opponents, who are careful to avoid bullying the only woman onstage.

In one primary debate for the 2008 election, she joked that she was wearing an “asbestos” pantsuit.

John Spencer, who challenged Clinton in her 2006 Senate re-election race, said the only time he got the best of her was when he “was able to expose that she’s like a palm tree, blowing this way and that” depending on what is politically expedient.